In the age of information, consumption of content is the biggest medium. The entire world is interconnected like a grand hive-mind, and it is the content that serves as the neurological system for it. Whether you are reading a blog, going through your Instagram post, or learning about a new business through a website, the common factor is that you’d be interacting with them through graphical or textual content.
Nowadays, digital marketing is at its peak, and it’s only going up from here. In such a digital landscape, everybody wants to know which form of content is the king!
There is no one clear winner in this battle. The thoughtful text provides the information that a user is looking for or the publisher wants to convey. But when it comes to forming and sustaining interaction, it is seen in recent times that graphics have a bigger role!
You would find it easier to browse through an article with images in between short bursts of texts. These articles are easy to read because of the content, but it is the reading that you’re there for in the first place. There’s no denying that one isn’t more important than the other, and the two have to be cohesive.
Appealing to online content is about two things. Capturing attention and then presenting delight/relevant information to maintain the attention. According to science, vision trumps all senses, including touch. Although we interact with the text through vision, it is the style and aesthetics that keep us glued to our screen. This is why a well-written blog needs to be complemented with strong visual content. Pictures beat text in terms of turning heads every time.
Scientifically speaking, our brain finds reading more taxing. Not to say that we don’t enjoy reading as individuals, because the racks full of books in our bedroom would suggest otherwise. But, when we are not looking to read for the sake of reading, we’d rather not read.
Our brain processes text as multiple small images that we need to interpret. This is why graphics work marvelously in conjuncture with text. The human brain can process an image in 13 milliseconds. Reading text is like subjecting the brain to repetitive pictures because instead of looking at the entire image, we look at one word at a time.
Consider children who have a tough time getting used to reading. Their books are full of immersive and colorful images. This is why they learn quicker through such books at that age. Of course, as we grow up, our brains get advanced and better at retaining information.
But regardless of that, our brains can only retain 10% of textual information 3 days later. On the other hand, when you pair the same textual information with an image, it works much better, and the retention rate is 65%.
Depending on the type of information, the combination of text and graphics will vary. For example, in the education industry, the visual elements are more contextual. It saves time and increases productivity to up to 400%! In marketing communication, animated info-graphics, charts, illustrations, branded visuals, website design etc., come into play. For brands, even video content is vital.
Finally, a word for the content writers! Text is important. It cannot be stressed enough. Everything you know about anything in this modern age is conveyed to you through text. Even as you read this blog learning about the importance of graphics, you’re doing it through text!
Graphics may keep you engaged throughout a webpage, but it is the text that makes you come back. Textual content and the stylized way it gives you a brand’s true identity, standards, and care towards how they’re perceived. So the final verdict remains, Text and Graphics need to be working together well to get the message forward.
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**********This blog has been compiled by Divyanshu Gupta**********